Follow-up valve for vehicle brake operating mechanisms



Feb. 2, 1954 AI LEE 2,667,888

1 FOLLOW-UP VALVE FOR VEHICLE BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISMS Original Filed Aug. 50. 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l A. L. LEE

Feb. 2, 1954 FOLLOW-UP VALVE FOR VEHICLE BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISMS.

SSheets-Sheet Original Filed Aug. 50. 1947 T mm OW N ARTHUR L LEE,

ATT 'Y Feb. 2, 1954 A. L. LEE 2,667,888

FOLLOW-UP VALVE FOR VEHICLE BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISMS Original Filed Aug. 50. 194'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ei 3 28 2q 5c" Sq v1" J 4a 1g|,\ 54 5B l /N VEN TOE," Are-mura L. LEE., El 5' BY 3 am ,ff/@8f Patented Feb. 2, 1954 'i' FOLLOW-UP VALVE FOR VEHICLE BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISMS Arthur L. Lee, Upper Arlington, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Original application August 30, 1947, Serial No.

771,542, now Patent No. 2,618,491, dated `November 18, 1952. Divided and this application January 3, 1951, Serial No. 204,215

1 claim. l

This invention relates to a vehicle including brake operating mechanism for use in a vehicle which may be, for example, a shuttle car designed particularly for carrying loose material, such as coal, between a loading machine adapted to operate in a coal mine room, or the like, and

van entry conveyor or mine cars.

An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide improved follow-up valve mechanism for use in the brake operating mechanism of a vehicle, such as a shuttle car.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in combination with a vehicle having a hydraulic brake booster motor, a hydraulic system that includes said hydraulic motor and a pump that is operable when the vehicle moves, the system also including a valve for ley-passing or directing the output fluid of the pump to the motor as desired.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a shuttle car incorporating the features of my invention with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the vehicle seen in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan View showing brake operating mechanism and the electric starter switch control mechanism of the shuttle car;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the drive gearing from a primary driving motor through an overload clutch by which the pair of wheels adjacent the discharge end of the vehicle is driven, and a brake actuating pump driven by said gearing; and

Fig. 6 is a combination piping diagram and a sectional view of follow-up power booster mechanism for the brakes of the vehicle.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 771,542. filed August 30, 1947, now Patent No. 2,618,491, granted November 18, 1952, for a shuttle car. It is to be understood that the construction and operation of the shuttle car of this application follows that of my parent application, above identified, and that only the subject matter pertinent to the present invention is discussed here in detail.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the shuttle car, incorporating the features of my invention, includes a main frame 20. Mounted on said main frame is an elongated,

longitudinally extending body 2|. adjacent the rear or discharge end of which there is a chute 22 adapted to overhang a mine car or entry conveyer, from which coal from the body 2l is discharged. The bottom of the coal-carrying body 2| is formed by a bottom plate 23 of substantially uniform width extending over a path which varies in elevation, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2y of the drawings. An endless chain and flight conveyer 2d has its upper or working run traveling over the bottom plate 23, with its 'return run traveling beneath said bottom plate 23. Conveyer Mextends between a head shaft 25 and afoot, tail, or discharge shaft 26, the former of which is driven through an appropriate chain and sprocket drive mechanism from an electric motor 21. f

As seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of vthe drawings, the body 2| includes laterally spaced side walls 28 which are in part vertical andfin part laterally sloping, to provide a maximum load carrying capacity for any given height of the shuttle car. The side walls 28 converge adjacent the discharge end of the body and extend upright throughout the length of the discharge chute 22, thereby providing an operatorsstation 29 vadjacent one side ofthe vehicle and' within the extreme lateral confines thereof and adjacent said chu'te 222 At asimilar position on the opposite side of the chute 22 an electric cable reel 30 is located by which electric current may be derived for the several electric motors provided on the shuttle car.

The shuttle car is provided with four wheels, preferably provided with pneumatic tires, there being a pair of wheels 3l adjacent the rear or discharge end and a pair of wheels 32 adjacent the front end.

One of the features of the shuttle car which is of considerable practical importance and which is broadly disclosed and claimed in my Patent No. 2,457,569, dated December 23, 1949, is the provision of driving means for the wheels 3! and 32 so that the wheels 3l adjacent one end of the vehicle are driven by one electric motor through a differential which is located adjacent one 'of the wheels and outside of the main frame and body of the vehicle, there being a similar drive gearing for the pair of wheels 3l adjacent the other end of the vehicle, also driven through a differential located outside the mainframe and body by a separate electric motor.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that an electric motor 33 drives a shaft 34 through a universal joint, which shaft is connected through a second universal joint through a differential 35 mounted to a casing, the casing in turn being mounted to the main frame outside the shuttle car. The differentially connected shafts of the differential drive a laterally extending shaft -36 vwhich extends .to reduction gearing "in a housing similar to the housing of the differential 35 Within which differential mech-. anism has been eliminated, the reduction gearing extending to one of the wheels'32fofithe'1pair adjacent the front end of the car. Thefiotherdfload release clutch 33 through drive gearing illusvtrated in-Fig. 5y of the drawings. It may be stated that interposed between the motor 33 and shaft 34 there is an overload release clutch39 which-is ysimilar to the overload lrelease clutch 38 illusvtratedindetail in Fig. `5. --clutch 38 and driven thereby is a-drive shaft 40, see Fig. l, which has a driving connection with a dierentialdl through'universal ljoints at op- Vposite endsv of said shaft 40. preferably identical'with` differential 35, both be- Extending from the Differential 4 l is ing in accordancewith my Patent No. 2,381,672,

vand the two drive shafts which extend laterally therefrom drive the rear pair of wheels 3| at opposite sides'of the shuttle car. This drive gearing includes a transverse drive shaft 42 which fleads to la reduction gearing housing 43 which has the same construction as the housing of the differential 35 but'the differential is ornitted'and a straight'stub shaft substituted, as suggested, for example, in my Patent No. 2,457,569, previously 'mentioned Inthe preferred embodiment of my invention,

all Yfour of the wheels 3! and 32 are power-driven, L vas'above described. However, in certain broader aspects, only one pair of said wheels may .be

power-driven. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment of my invention, all four VVof fthe Wheels 3| and 32 are steerable, although in certain broader aspects of my invention only. a single pair may be steered. A portion of the linkage mechanism for steering said four wheelsisindicated at 44 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

yreference to Figs. land 2 of thel drawings, er

it-will be seen that a steering wheel -assemblyd is located at the operators station 29. .This steering Wheel assembly is dual in character since the operator must be able to reverse his position in order to operate the-shuttle car with equal facility, whether traveling forwardly or reversely. To this end, there are dual controls at the operators stati0n 29, including separate seats'46 and 41, located at opposite sides of the steering wheel assembly ttention is now directed to the improved brakingsystem which I employ. Each of the wheels v13|, 32 is provided with a hydraulically operated brakemechanism of standard construction, the four brake cylinders being actuated from a master cylinder 43 (see Figs. 3 and4) `which is of standard construction. The actuating mechanism for the master cylinder 48 includes Asome improvements, constituting a featureof @my invention, which-shall now bedescribed.

'theoperating plunger 33 and the core fill. ythe left-hand end the casting 65 is provided with At the operators station 29 there is a platform 39 on which an operator can stand or rest his feet while sitting on either seat 45, 41. Adjacent said .platform 39v and pivotallymounted on horizontal axes are vduplex foot 'brake levers55 which are inter-connected by a link 5l so thatactuation of either of them will have the same effect to operate adjustable rod 52 through an arm 53 integral with'one of-the levers 50. A spring 54 urges ithebrakelevers 50 to the off position. Rod 52 is pivotally attached to the lower end of an operat- Ving .yoke 55 which is pivotally attached to the operating 'head53 of the master cylinder 48 (see Fig. 6). The upper end of the yoke 55 is pivlotall-y connected to a link 57, the other end of f' which is connected to a cross head 53 of a booster control valve.v mechanism 59 which operates auto- `maticallyby virtue of the operator pressing on either ofthe brake levers 5! so las to boost the action of the mechanical linkage above described yin actuating the master cylinder-53.

.head @Sis provided for the casting Si. Hydraulic fluid may be delivered to and from the piston 62 over pipe or conduit 3A, as controlled by Valve 59. lt is obvious that whenever hydraulic pressure is applied to conduit lit will be delivered over obvious passageways to the left-.hand end of cylinder 62, as viewed in Fig. 6 of the drawings, thus forcing the piston 62 to the right, which force will he transmitted to the -head 53 rand through it to actuate the mastercylinder 48 and apply the brakes. The valve 59 is of the followup type so that the actuation or release of the boosting power of the actuator ilis automatical- 1y applied or released as the operator pushes on one ofthe manually controllable levers 50.

The valve 59 includes a main casting or body 35 which is mounted on the plate 28 along with the body or casting 6i `of booster actuator. On the right-hand end the casting 35 is provided with a vbuilt up head 33 which is clamped .on

by a pair of elongated bolts 6l which provides obvious stops between-which the cross head 53 may reciprocate. Cross head 58 is carried on the right-hand end of an actuating plunger (58 reciprocably mounted in arbore 39 in the head E5 which is vin alignment with a through cylindrical bore in the casting-55. Within Vthe bore 59 is a valve core 'is provided with spaced lands at opposite ends having a reduced portion therebetween. A'spring 'H is interposed between At in the casting 65 and inthe'heads 12,13', as vclearly illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

However, with the brake actuating levers .5U released there is'a normal no-load by-pass provided. for the pump T14 andv this is effected when the parts of valve 59 are in thepositions illustrated in Fig. 6 of thedrawings. That.is,.the reduced portion ofthe corefl providesauid passage between the chamber 11 and a drain chamber 18 which is in permanent communication with a drain or return pipe or conduit 19.

Upon an operator pushing a brake lever 50, the yoke 55 will tend to swing about its pivotal connection to the head 56 which is a trunnion connection designated 50 in Fig. 4 of the drawings. This movement will swing the upper end of the yoke 55 to the left, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings, moving the cross head 58 and plunger 68 to the left, along with the valve core which is actuated through the compression of spring 1|. This will close the no-load by-pass above described by moving the righthand land of core 10 between the valve chambers 11 and 18. Hydraulic pressure will thus develop in the line 1S and be transferred to conduit 64 with which it is in constant communication, actuating the piston`62 and moving the head 56 to the right, thus actuating the master cylinder of the brake system when applying the brakes. This movement of the master cylinder will, of course, change the pivot point 8D, seen in Fig. 4, in a direction which will tend to restore the valve core 10 to its by-passing position, thus providing the follow-up characteristic above described, so that if additional braking action is desired by the operator he will merely continue to depress one of the brake levers 50 in an entirely natural manner to operate direct actuating hydraulic brakes.

To provide restoring pressure, tending to move the core 10 to its neutral or by-passing position, hydraulic iluid connected to the chamber 11 is also delivered over an obvious path to a central chamber in the head 13 where it acts upon a small pin-like piston 8l which abuts the lefthand end of core 10 and extends through a coil spring 82 which also urges the core 10 to its neutral or by-passing position. Obvious leakage passageways are provided to drain off any hydraulic fluid which leaks past the end lands of the core 10, this leakage fluid being delivered to leakage line 83 which also drains leakage from the pump 14 and from the motor 60.

By referring to Fig. 5 of the drawings it will be noted that in the preferred form of my invention, the pump 14 is driven from the electric motor 31 by being geared to the positively driven side of the overload release clutch 38. In this arrangement, therefore, the pump 14 will normally only operate to produce a flow of hydraulic fluid or develop hydraulic pressure when the vehicle is moving. I contemplate an arrangement, however, in which the pump 14 is continuously driven independently of the movement of the vehicle, in which case booster action for the brakes will be available, regardless of the movement of the vehicle. In general, however, this booster action will only be required when the Vehicle is moving, which is the thought behind the arrangement disclosed, thus relieving the pump 14 of doing any work except under conditions where that work would be usefully applied.

Mounted on the platform 49 is a reversely operable control switch 84 which preferably has two positions in each direction of movement. The switch 84 provides two-speed control of a relay starter system, not disclosed in detail, for

controlling the reverse travel of the shuttle car. Said switch 84 is controlled by a rod 85 mounted for rotary movement and carrying a pair of reversely positioned operating pedals 86 so that switch 84 can be readily controlled by an operator, regardless of which direction he is facing.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in 'the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claim hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A follow-up valve for use in a hydraulic brake system including a master cylinder, and a hydraulic booster motor for said master cylinder, said follow-up valve being adapted to control the pressure of hydraulic fluid in said booster motor and including means forming `a housing having axially aligned axial bores therein each forming a cylinder, said cylinder having different diameters, said housing also forming spaced pressure and exhaust chambers associated with the cylinder of larger diameter, an operating plunger recprocably mounted in said cylinder of larger-diameter, a valve core in said cylinder of larger diameter provided with spaced lands at opposite ends and a reduced diameter portion therebetween adapted to interconnect said spaced pressure and exhaust chambers whereby hydraulic iiuid entering said pressure chamber is by-passed when said booster motor is inoperative, a spring between said operating plunger and said valve core, means forming a piston in the smaller of said cylinders and at the end of said valve core opposite said operating plunger, and spring means urging said valve core toward said operating plunger, said valve housing providing interconnected hydraulic fluid passageways connected with said pressure chamber, an end of said piston opposite said valve core and adapted to lead to said booster motor whereby when said core is urged by said operating plunger and spring to restrict the flow of hydraulic fluid from said pressure chamber to said exhaust chamber said piston is subjected to the increased pressure in the pressure chamber thereby tending to move said valve core toward said operating plunger to reconnect said pressure and exhaust chambers.

ARTHUR L. LEE.

References cited in the fue of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,218,191 Dick Oct. 15, 1940 2,343,698 Parnell Mar. 7, 1944 2,360,578 Porter Oct. 17, 1944 2,402,115 Levy June 11, 1946 2,472,695 Chouings June 7, 1949 2,574,556 Good Nov. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 835,760 France Oct. 3, 1938 

